Ben Apfelbaum

SYDNEY PHILHARMONIA CHOIRS BACH : MASS IN B MINOR

Sydney Philharmonia Choir. pic Keith Saunders

A fine Easter Saturday in Sydney, The Sydney Philharmonia choir, Bach – three ingredients guaranteed to make a most enjoyable afternoon and this concert at the Stdney Town Hall certainly did not disappoint.

The Sydney Philharmonia choir is a wonderful Sydney institution. The near to capacity audience on a sunny Saturday afternoon confirms the affection in which they are held by the public. I have participated in their public choirs on more than one occasion in the past and it has been a fabulous experience each time. I urge everyone to do this!

Today’s concert featured the Chamber Singers and Vox choir. The Vox choir is a group of talented singers aged 18-30,and together with the more experienced Chamber choir  under the talented  leadership of Elizabeth Scott they gave a wonderfully measured rendition  of  Johann Sebastien Bach’s Mass in B minor.

This is one of the great Bach’s final works, begun in 1733 but finished in the 1740’s when Bach had already grown blind. It was never performed in its entirety in his lifetime. It is a huge work of enormous complexity and one of the finest achievements of classical music – in the words of Elizabeth Scott: ‘containing some of the best music written by arguably the best composer to have ever lived.’

Elizabeth Scott, who has recently been appointed Lecturer in choral conducting at the Sydney Conservatorium has been associated with the Vox choir since 2008 and her control of all the elements in the piece throughout all 27 sections of the mass was masterful.

The choir, as an ensemble, was superb and achieved a fine balance with the Sydney Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra (Fiona Ziegler concertmaster) – never being overwhelmed by the orchestra in front of them even in the quietest and most delicate moments. The voices of the fugal movements were clearly modulated, and the choruses were magnificent. Even though there were many for whom a mass had no spiritual significance, we all felt uplifted!

The four soloists, who were featured in this piece, were all experienced practitioners of this genre and added extra pleasure to the afternoon.

Australian soprano, Celeste Lazarenko, featured beautifully in the soprano parts. Anna Dowsley is a mezzo soprano with extensive experience both in Australia and Europe. She will be featured in the title role in Oranteo with the Pinchgut opera later this year. I would strongly urge the public to go as she produces a truly beautiful sound!

New Zealand tenor Jonathan Abernathy is also a featured soloist with the Pinchgut opera. His tenor aria at the beginning of the Benedictus was thrilling. It was also a privilege to hear eminent Australian Simon Lobelson as the baritone soloist.

Once again I reiterate that Sydney is lucky to have the Philharmonia as part of  the musical fabric of our city  and  the enthusiastic acclaim at the end of the concert acknowledged the outstanding musical standards they always achieve and the positive contribution they make to the cultural life of our city. 

Bach: Mass in B Minor

Easter Saturday 16 April, 3pm
Sydney Town Hall

Program

Johann Sebastian BACH Mass in B minor

 Artists

Elizabeth Scott, conductor

Celeste Lazarenko, soprano

Anna Dowsley, mezzo-soprano

Jonathan Abernethy, tenor

Simon Lobelson, baritone

Sydney Philharmonia Choirs VOX

Sydney Philharmonia Choirs Chamber Singers

Sydney Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra

 

Published by Ben Apfelbaum

My photography began when my father handed me the proverbial brownie box camera as a child. As cameras developed I went through Fujica and Olympus range finders graduating to my first single lens reflex camera, the Minolta SRT101, the latter being the greatest facilitator to my growth as a photographer. Digital photography has only added to this. I was a regular contributor to Camera Craft magazine (Australian Camera ) for over three years. During Australia’s Bicentennial year (1988) I made it a personal project to document the celebrations. This culminated in the creation of a book of my photos which was published in 1989. The book was called CELEBRATING AUSTRALIA and came with an accompanying calendar. My works have appeared in a number of publications including the coffee book entitled MY AUSTRALIA (1989), publisher Robertsbridge Severn. This book had a preface by the then Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke. I was a co-photographer on a book entitled SYDNEY- DISCOVER THE CITY with text written by Robert Treborland. Major Mitchell Press was the publisher. Also for two years I was the photographer for calendars celebrating Sydney’s multicultural communities. The two calendars were entitled MULTICULTURAL SYDNEY. My work appeared in a group exhibition held at Sydney’s Town Hall pertaining to the diversity of life in South America to raise money for orphanages there. I have over one hundred photos stored in the New South Wales State Library archive. I had a solo exhibition held in 2007 entitled Ben’s Lens at the Sydney Jewish Museum which celebrated the vibrancy of the Sydney Jewish community. Some of these photos are on the Museum’s permanent display. I have exhibited internationally firstly at the Spruill Gallery in Atlanta Georgia, united states, and in an exhibition entitled Kosher and Co at the Jewish Museum in Berlin. Currently I am a regular contributor to J-Wire and this esteemed publication.